


Combat

by meyari



Series: Hospitality [20]
Category: DCU - Comicverse, Smallville
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-26
Updated: 2011-08-26
Packaged: 2017-10-23 02:33:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/245326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meyari/pseuds/meyari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The battle comes to a head as Darkseid and Superman do battle against each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Combat

Clark gasped as Darkseid sent another wave of magic at him and Bruce. He wasn't sure that the amulet would protect Bruce as it had him so Clark shoved Bruce away, sending him flying into a bubble of green energy from Green Lantern's enchanted ring. Outside, he could hear Zatanna, her father and her nephew chanting a spell, the words flying off their tongues they spoke so quickly.

The lavender glow around Clark intensified and suddenly Darkseid's magic faded into a dim gray mist that had no effect at all on Clark. The glow from his amulet increased until the gloom filling the throne room dissipated, allowing Conner and the Royal Archers to fire down at Darkseid.

As planned, their arrows were magical ones, blessed not only by one of the Amazon priestesses but also by one of their own priests. Zatanna had spelled them, too, as had Stephanie, though Stephanie had joked that she seriously doubted that she'd be able to add anything after all the rest were done.

The arrows pierced the shimmering wall of magic that surrounded Darkseid though they only bounced off of his granite-like hide instead of penetrating. Still, Darkseid yelled as though they had stung, which encouraged the archers to continue firing. All around Clark people were chanting and singing prayers of love and hope. He could almost see how they lessened Darkseid's power, decreased his hold on the world. Truthfully, he could hear the difference in Darkseid's magic, hear it getting weaker. At the same time he heard the crackle of fire combined with flight and knew without looking up that Koriand'r had arrived.

"You pay for what you've done to my people!" Koriand'r shouted as she swooped down from the balcony and fired her bolts on Darkseid.

Darkseid didn't appear to have expected her attack because he took a step backwards and raised one arm to block her flaming blasts. That moment of distraction was exactly what Clark had been waiting for. He was grateful that it happened after he'd managed to get back to his feet and shrug off some of the effect of Darkseid's magic. If it had happened sooner Clark wasn't sure that he would have been able to take advantage of it.

Clark took to the air and flew at Darkseid, hoping that the amulet and the spells from Zatanna's family would help protect him against Darkseid when they touched. He was sort of afraid that Darkseid's touch would corrupt. It seemed like the sort of thing that a would-be god of darkness would do, not that it mattered. No matter what happened, Clark had to take Darkseid down so that their world could be saved.

His first blow was a solid one, connecting with Darkseid's jaw with enough power to take the head off of a lesser man. Darkseid rocked with the blow as if Clark were only a normal human who'd tried to hit someone gifted with Clark's level of invulnerability. He snarled and then growled when Clark backhanded him with the shield and then tried to hit his stomach with his other hand.

"You dare?" Darkseid bellowed.

He swung and connected with Clark's jaw, or more accurately his helmet. The force of the blow made the helmet ring as though it was a bell while nearly sending Clark to his knees. No one had ever hit him that hard before; he'd never fought against someone who was as powerful as he was. They traded blows, Clark hitting Darkseid in the stomach, ribs and chin while receiving blows to the head, side and one on his shield that was so powerful his arm went numb for a moment.

There was no way to tell what the others were doing, whether they were watching in awe or continuing to battle against Darkseid's helmeted troops. It didn't matter. Clark focused on Darkseid, attempting to beat him into submission even though he was fairly certain that simple combat wouldn't stop him. Lex's cut to Darkseid's throat showed that. Something much more was going to be required to deal with Darkseid. Hopefully their combined plans would be sufficient.

"Off!" Darkseid yelled after another successful blow to his jaw that made him stagger.

Clark gasped as Darkseid grabbed his shield and flung Clark across the room. He twisted in midair and used his flight to ensure that he didn't go flying straight through the wall and out into the street beyond. As he did that Darkseid's eyes sparked and flamed as though something truly evil was boiling behind his eyes.

*Now!* Barbara, Oracle, yelled in Clark's ear. *Take the cover off now!*

Time slowed down as Clark responded to her warning. Beams of light shot out of Darkseid's eyes, bending around Koriand'r's feet and over the tips of Katar's wings. The unnatural movement of the light ensured that it could lance straight for Clark who ripped the cover off of the shield. As he aimed the mirrored shield at Darkseid, Clark prayed that this would work, that no one would get in the way of the beams that might be their only chance of stopping Darkseid.

As the beams approached him, Darkseid's mouth moved in a slow motion 'No!' that made Clark's heart leap. Time began to speed back up again as the beams of light blasted straight back into Darkseid's chest. The beams burned through Darkseid's body and then disappeared but the burning continued as if Darkseid's body was a piece of paper that had caught flame at the edges. Clark hesitated and then landed in front of the throne while Darkseid burned from the inside out. His chest went black, then hollowed out and then the flame that wasn't a flame swept down his arms and legs. The last part of his body to be consumed was his head.

Darkseid didn't have for more than an aborted scream, even though it had felt like an hour to Clark.

When Darkseid's body collapsed to the dais silence fell over the throne room. No one moved for a long few seconds, watching and waiting to see what would happen. The smoke rising from Darkseid's corpse abruptly changed from the noxious grey that was appropriate to a body being burned to a boiling cloud as black as night. Clark took several steps backwards when he realized that he could see twin red glows inside the cloud that looked just like Darkseid's eyes.

"You cannot defeat me!" Darkseid shouted from the heart of his cloud. "I am beyond you."

His cloud swirled not at Clark, as he'd expected, but straight for Dick who shouted and shoved Roy out of the way. Roy screamed something incoherent as terror for Dick swept across his face. Dick crossed his arms in front of his face, ducking away from Darkseid's cloud though he didn't need to have bothered.

The collar and cuffs adorning Dick's wrists and neck glowed like the sun. The rays of light radiating off of Dick cut through Darkseid's cloud, visibly weakening it. The cloud seemed to stagger before it swirled away to flow at Clark. Brilliant lavender light erupted from Clark's amulet. He could hear Zatanna chanting something and the prayers of the Amazons were getting louder, as were the prayers that the Royal Archers were reciting in shaking voices. Selina's hymn had gone from singing to shouting.

"Not all of you are so protected!" Darkseid snarled.

He drove towards Bruce which made Clark shout. There wasn't time to do anything about it though because Tim pulled out the little clay robin flute and blew it at the same time that Steve stepped into Darkseid's path. Diana's scream of fear added to Clark's shout. Both of them were drowned out by a heavenly chorus of trumpets and bells.

"You want someone to possess!" Steve shouted as he held up a small jeweled box. "Possess me, monster!"

"No!" Darkseid wailed. "I cannot be defeated! I will not be defeated! As long as men exist and despair, I shall always win!"

Laughter came from overhead, making Clark look up and stare in awe. Gods and Goddesses stood around a balcony that had not existed before. They looked down at Darkseid's cloud, his ghost, and used bright magic that was beyond Clark's ability to see and hear to force him into the box that Steve held. The sound of Tim's flute went on and on, combining with the prayers and the Gods' magic.

Tendrils of smoke reached out towards Bruce, Oliver, Lex, everyone in the room so Clark took flight and sped in circles around them. The wind seemed to help drive Darkseid further into the box. The black cloud roiled and bubbled, fighting in vain against the magic trying to trap him. As the last of Darkseid's dark cloud was sucked into the box, he clung to the edges of it with fingers made of black smoke. Clark could see glowing red eyes glaring out of the box at Clark and the rest of the world.

"I will return!" Darkseid shouted. "My dark mark is already stamped across the universe, implanted in the souls of my followers. You cannot hold me forever!"

"Maybe not," Steve said entirely too calmly as he snapped the lid of the box shut, "but we can certainly hold you for now and work to free those you've corrupted."

The oppressive feeling disappeared the instant Steve shut the box, as did the vision of the Gods overhead. Clark laughed breathlessly and landed at the same time that Tim tucked his flute back into one of his belt pouches. In the silence that followed Diana took a couple of hesitant steps forward and then rushed to Steve's side to hug him and kiss him passionately.

"Over," Clark sighed with relief. "It's over."


End file.
